Andorra

Culture Name

Andorran

Alternative Names

Principality of Andorra; Andorranos

Orientation

Identification.
The first reference to Andorra appears in the writings of the Greek
historian Polybius (c. 200–118
B
.
C
.
E
), who tells of the military encounter between Andorrans and Carthaginian
troops as Hannibal (247–183
B
.
C
.
E
.) passed through the Pyrenees Mountains en route to Rome. Andorra,
historically, was a rural microstate whose population oscillated between
four thousand and six thousand inhabitants. In the second half of the
twentieth century, as it became a large international commercial center,
the nation received larger migratory populations and developed into a
multicultural society.

Location and Geography.
Andorra has a total land surface of 181 square miles (468 square
kilometers) making it slightly less than five times the size of the city
of Barcelona. It is situated in the Pyrenees Mountains, bordered by Spain
and France. The capital of the nation, Andorra la Vella (Old Andorra),
lies in the geographic center of the country, where the two tributaries of
the Valira River merge.

Demography.
According to the 1998 census, the population stands at 65,877 of whom
only 21.7 percent have Andorran citizenship. The rest of the inhabitants
are Spanish (42.9 percent), Portuguese (10.7 percent), French (6.7
percent) or other nationalities (6.5 percent). Moreover, more than 7,589
persons, generally children or youth of immigrant families, have no formal
citizenship. According to current legislation, foreigners can acquire
citizenship after twenty years of residence in the country. Their
children, born in Andorra, acquire citizenship at age eighteen.

Linguistic Affiliation.
Catalan is the official language of Andorra. It is used throughout public
administration, is taught in all schools, and is the language of all road
signs. It is also the dominant language in communications media and is the
language spoken by the national elites. In commercial signage, Catalan
alternates with Spanish and French. Nevertheless, the dominant language of
the street is Spanish. The Spanish population represents the largest
immigrant community in Andorra and, in addition, the majority of visitors
and merchants who come to Andorra are also Spanish. The use of French is
limited to populations in the extreme southwest of the country. Portuguese
and other languages are limited to private settings.

Symbolism.
The Sanctuary of the Virgin of Meritxell, patron of the nation,
constitutes the most important religious symbol for Andorrans and is also
an attractive spot for tourist visits in the summer. Its thirty Romanesque
churches and other treasures of medieval art serve as historical referents
as well as emblems of identity.

History and Ethnic Relations

Emergence of the Nation.
The origins of Andorra can be situated between the Mesolithic and the
Neolithic periods. The archaeological site of Balma Margineda dates back
eight thousand years, although full territorial occupation was not
achieved until 2000
B
.
C
.
E
. During the Roman era, Andorra had a stable population. Until the epoch
of Arab occupation in the eighth century, Iberian populations mixed with
peoples arriving from central Europe. At the beginning of the ninth
century, the area was repopulated. The first document that refers to
Andorra is the Act of Consecration of the Cathedral of Urgel (839
C
.
E
.). In the eighth and ninth centuries, Andorra belonged to the County of
Barcelona, which ceded sovereignty over the valleys of Andorra in 988 to
the Episcopal see of Urgel (Spain).

Andorra

At the end of the thirteenth century, after conflicts between the bishop
of Urgel and the count of Foix, a Judicial Decision (
Pareatge
) was signed in 1278 that established the regime of coprinces that
remains today. Currently, the two coprinces of Andorra are the president
of the French Republic and the bishop of Urgel. Medieval rights over
Andorra passed from the count of Foix to the king of Navarre in the
fifteenth century, and then to the king of France in the sixteenth
century; in the nineteenth century, they passed to the president of the
republic.

National Identity.
Historically, Andorra has been a protectorate of France and Spain. This
is manifest in several ways: (1) the currencies of the nation are the
franc and the peseta; (2) the two systems of public education were, until
1982, the French and the Spanish; and (3) the two languages most commonly
spoken are French and Spanish, in addition to Catalan. This dualism has
been expressed in multiple ways in recent centuries; Andorran factionalism
also always has a pro-Spanish front and a pro-French front.

Today, however, both state political powers and Andorran civil society
have endeavored to consolidate a national identity that takes as its
symbolic referents its medieval past, mythologizing the political
peculiarity of the Pareatges. Andorrans also identify themselves as a
mountain society and have a special interest in leading sociopolitical and
economic movements of the Pyrenean regions. The third pillar of identity
is "Catalanness" (
catalanitat
), which it shares with 11 million persons in the northeast of Spain and
the southeast of France.

Ethnic Relations.
As a culture shaped by transhumant (seasonally transient) shepherds in
the past and international merchants in the present, Andorrans are open in
character and interethnic relations are not conflictive. Moreover, almost
all immigrants come from European nations; hence, cultural differences are
not strident.

Urbanism, Architecture, and the Use of Space

Urbanism in the nation reflects both its rural past and its commercial and
urban present. While some municipalities such as Canillo and Ordino
demonstrate an urbanism typical of any village of the Pyrenean or Alpine
high mountains, the urban center formed by Andorra la Vella and
Escaldes-Engordany has the face and structure of any typical Western urban
commercial center. Other settlements, such as Sant Julia de Loria and
Encamp, show a hybrid rural-urban style.

An urban rule also fixes the invented tradition of the "mountain
style." This demands that 30 percent of any facade be constructed
of stone masonry. Hence large commercial buildings and the majority of
urban public buildings show an amalgam of invented tradition and
modernity, combining stone with iron and large surfaces of glass.
Nevertheless, the building of the national government is of modern design,
constructed in concrete and glass. Meanwhile the seat of the Andorran
parliament (the General Council) is a noteworthy sixteenth-century
edifice, a kind of palace-fortress constructed totally of stone masonry.

The most notable elements of the Andorran patrimony are its thirty
Romanesque churches, almost all of them small, built between the ninth and
the thirteenth centuries. Some of them conserve frescoes and wood carvings
of great value, such as the Virgin of Canolic (which dates to the twelfth
century). There are also remains of old castles and medieval
fortifications and magnificent examples of rural homesteads. The small
Romanesque sanctuary

A tobacco plantation in Andorra. Tobacco is the only surviving
agricultural crop in the country.

of Santa Maria de Meritxell, patroness of Andorra, caught fire in 1972.
While it was restored, the famous Barcelona architect Ricard Bofill was
commissioned to build a new one. A large building, the new sanctuary uses
traditional materials such as stone and black slate despite its modern,
functional concepts.

Almost 60 percent of the Andorran population resides in the capital
center. Here, the style of life and uses of space are similar to any other
European city. Some immigrant communities (such as the Portuguese and
Galicians) have taken over certain public spaces (such as cafés and
restaurants) as centers for informal reunions, which convert the spaces
into semipublic spaces. Yet, there is no pattern of spatial segregation on
the basis of ethnicity, even if there exists a clear territorial division
of social class: while workers live in small apartments in center city
blocks, elites inhabit luxurious mansions on adjoining hills.

Food and Economy

Food in Daily Life.
The diet in Andorra is based on consumption of meat, garden vegetables,
and some fish. The most common winter dish, in rural and urban zones, is
escudella, a soup of veal, chicken, potatoes, and vegetables. Some
immigrant communities have different customs: Portuguese eat more cod and
Indians, more vegetarian food. Normally, the midday meal is eaten near the
workplace in a restaurant.

Food Customs at Ceremonial Occasions.
Many Catholic families still avoid eating meat on Fridays. At the feast
of the Virgin of Meritxell, Andorran families often eat outdoors after the
solemn midday mass: they consume cold cuts, chicken, and rabbit. The
Christmas cycle is also an occasion for the organization of family meals.

Basic Economy.
Until about the middle of the twentieth century, the Andorran economy was
based on transhumant shepherding and the breeding of cattle and horses.
Andorrans also grew some tobacco, while agriculture was oriented to the
production of cereals, potatoes, and garden vegetables. Because of the
climate, the rocky relief, and the small size of its territory, the
country always ran a deficit in agricultural production. Today, due to the
commercial orientation of its economy, agriculture has disappeared. Only
tobacco survives, with its production tripling since the early 1970s.
Coupled with enormous quantities of imported tobacco, this production
feeds a strong tobacco industry serving visitors to the country (as well
as smuggling). Almost all that Andorrans consume and sell to millions of
visitors comes from importation, principally from Spain and France but
also from Japan and other countries of the Far East. Yet another extremely
important economic activity for the Andorran economy is the banking
sector, because of the nation's condition as a "fiscal
paradise."

Land Tenure and Property.
Most Andorran land is of communal ownership, including the woods and
alpine meadows that occupy more than 80 percent of the territory. This
situation recurs throughout the Pyrenees, originating in medieval local
codes. Private property is found near villages, constituted by homes,
rural structures, cultivated fields, and gardens. The exploitation of
goods is managed by local administrations (
comuns
) which, in addition, also exercise many functions typical of city halls.
The benefits of the exploitation of these goods revert to citizens in the
form of infrastructure, equipment, creation of work, scholarships for
students, and social service endeavors. Today, four of the seven municipal
units (
parroquies
) that form the country have one or more winter resorts, from which they
also gain great benefits. The only properties of the state are the courses
and banks of the rivers, and roads and highways.

Commercial Activities.
Andorra has always had fluid commercial relations with France and Spain,
including smuggling. During the Spanish Civil War (1936–1939) and
the World War II (1939–1945), the volume of exchanges increased,
since Andorra was a platform through which to supply belligerent nations.
In addition, the economic isolation of Spain during the dictatorship of
Francisco Franco, from 1939 to 1975, favored the commercial activity of
Andorra, which supplied equipment, machine parts, vehicles, and other
consumer goods. The foundation of the new Andorran economy, however, is
retail commerce in major consumer goods, oriented toward buyers in nearby
regions of Spain and France.

Major Industries.
Andorra's industrial development is extremely limited. Apart from
tobacco, the most important industry is construction along with its
derivative industries, hospitality industries, and semi-artisanal
activities such as jewelry.

Trade.
Commerce and tourism are based on the importation of all goods and
services from third countries. There are sixty import-export companies
handling such goods as gasoline, automobiles, beverages, tobacco,
machinery, optical and electronic products, food, clothing, and shoes.
Electronic goods come from Japan and other Asian sources, while the rest
come from Europe.

Division of Labor.
Large Andorran firms belong almost exclusively to Andorran citizens,
although there are also some enterprises founded by Spaniards and
Frenchmen who have acquired citizenship through their years of residence.
Foreigners, Spanish and French, dominated professional positions until
recently; high enrollments of university students have fostered a process
of nationalization in this occupational level. Employment in construction,
transport, commerce, and public services (police and sanitation), like
work in hotels, tend to employ resident alien workers depending on their
ability and level of instruction.

Social Stratification

Classes and Castes.
Class differences in Andorra are quite clear and possess marked
characteristics, such as residence. Practically all the original Andorran
population belongs to the high or medium-high stratum of society as the
first group to arrive in the nation. The rest of the Spanish population is
basically salaried, although there are executive groups and small
entrepreneurs among them. Most Portuguese are found in less-skilled labor
positions, especially in hostelry and construction. The French population
comprises bureaucrats and small-scale entrepreneurs in hostelry or
commerce.

Symbols of Social Stratification.
Apart from evocative differences of residence, other indicators of class
difference include fashion. The Andorran elite sport well-known
international brands, which contrast with the sobriety of the rest of the
society. Automobiles are also a highly visible indicator of consumption.
Even though the entire society is motorized, only a minority has access to
such luxury cars as Rolls-Royce, Mercedes, Audi, and BMW.

Political Life

Government.
Following the 1993 constitution, Andorra is a parliamentary
coprincipality, headed by the president of France and the bishop of Urgel.
The Andorran parliament (the General Council) includes twenty-eight
members, half elected by local constituencies and half by national votes.
This system seeks an equilibrium between territory and demography.
Elections are held every four years. The winning parliamentary group forms
the government.

Leadership and Political Officials.
For decades, access to political power in Andorra was linked to two great
entrepreneurial families. In the last decade, however, important
transformations have emerged from the application of the constitution.
There are no real national parties differentiated by ideology and/or in
the function of their program of government. Andorran politics are
constructed on the basis of influence groups, who defend local and family
interests. The elaboration of electoral lists is the result of a complex
process of compromise and alliance among client groups. Given the small
size of the electorate (some fifteen thousand voters), electoral processes
presuppose a face-to-face relation between candidates and electors that is
maintained after the election.

Social Problems and Control.
The judicial system is constituted at three levels: the Tribunal de
Batlles, the Tribunal de Corts, and the Tribunal Superior de Justicia
d'Andorra. While all three handle civil and labor affairs, only the
first two deal with criminal matters. One might also appeal to a fourth
jurisdiction, the Tribunal Constitutional. A corps of judiciary police,
distinct from ordinary police, also serves the government. Crime in
Andorra is very low. Foreign defendants tend to be extradited to their
country of origin. The most frequent crimes are robbery, fraud, and drug
trafficking. Labor conflicts,

Lakes and steep hills dot the landscape of Andorra. The principality
has a total land surface of 181 square miles.

for unjustified firing, are the most frequent incidents of judicial
action.

Social Welfare and Change Programs

Since there is no direct taxation in Andorra, the state has limited
resources to maintain the level of opulence that characterizes the
country. This means its capacity to implement welfare programs is limited.
The principal demands of foreign workers, the most fragile and needy
social sector, focus on housing and child care in order to secure the
position of female workers. Recently, the government attempted a
low-interest credit system through Andorran banks to encourage home
ownership, but the results were below expectations. The number of child
care centers has grown, but still fails to meet demand.

Nongovernmental Organizations and Other Associations

Andorran organizations are undeveloped, despite the presence of
associations in sports, culture, the arts, and business. Unions are not
legally accepted, although they exist in clandestine form. All civil
associations must be run, legally, by an Andorran citizen. Thus the
foreign population has enormous difficulties in constituting associations.
The Spanish Embassy helps the Council of Spanish Residents, an association
that looks after the needs and interests of that group. Given
Andorra's status as a developed nation, foreign nongovernmental
organizations are absent.

Gender Roles and Statuses

The Relative Status of Women and Men.
Andorran society, with its strong rural origins, maintained a marked
segregation on the basis of gender roles until the late twentieth century.
All public activity was exercised by men, representing the family. Rapid
urbanization, changes in lifestyle, and the commercial orientation of the
economy have forced a rapid modification in the economic and work roles of
women. Today, their public visibility is total, even if their presence in
political spheres remains inferior to that of men, despite consistent
progress.

Marriage, Family, and Kinship

Marriage.
Marriage is not controlled by any limits except class (and not always by
that). Marriages between Andorrans and Spaniards or French are normal.

Domestic Unit.
The family remains the basic social unit, more important than the
individual, despite the accelerated evolution of Andorran society. Most
enterprises and business are organized through the family, distributing
functions according to capacities and the level of study of each member.
These family groups, following the institution of the familia troncal
(stem family), incorporate a married pair and their children.

Inheritance.
Formerly, the inheritance system passed nearly all the patrimony to one
of the sons: the
hereu
(heir). Today, this tendency is maintained only at a symbolic level
through the transmission of the family home. In the case of rural
holdings, only the inheriting son can marry and reside with his wife and
children on the family land; however, current family businesses are
different. Any child can remain tied to the family business after
marriage, although there remains a tendency towards an heir who will
follow the father in the operation of the business.

Kin Groups.
Networks of kinship are only activated through rituals of sociability for
reasons of alliance or political patronage.

Socialization

Child Rearing and Education.
Andorran children, as in many other European nations, are placed in child
care settings before three years of age, and much of the care and
instruction of these children thereafter is done by scholastic
institutions. Insufficient relationships between parents and children are
noticeable at times. The extended work hours of parents, who often do not
return home until 8:30
P.M.
, aggravate this tendency. Cases of youth maladjustment, quite frequent in
Andorra and affecting all social sectors, are explained by psychologists
as stemming from this relationship deficit.

Until 1982, when an Andorran public school system was created, there were
only French and Spanish schools. Each
parroquia
(municipal unit) had a primary school in each system. There were also
seven intermediate educational institutions. According to official data,
63 percent of the juvenile population was enrolled in intermediate
education in 1999–2000.

Higher Education.
Roughly 11 percent of the population between eighteen and twenty-four
attends university, especially in Spain and France.

A stone church in a village near Andorra La Vella. Even though
Andorra has no formal religion, Roman Catholicism is predominantly
practiced.

Religion

Religious Beliefs.
Even though Andorra lacks a formal religion, Roman Catholicism is
hegemonic. One fundamental element of this presence rests on the role of
the bishop of Urgel as coprince and, at the same time, head of the
Andorran Church. Apart from the Jehovah's Witnesses, there are no
public religious alternatives in Andorra.

Rituals and Holy Places.
All public ceremonies, including some sessions of the parliament, are
accompanied by a Catholic mass. The Andorran festive calendar adapts to
the Catholic liturgical calendar, and the nation, like every
parroquia,
has a patron saint and a collection of religious and lay celebrations.

Medicine and Health Care

The Andorran medical system is guaranteed through a general hospital,
situated in the capital, as well as various clinics and private medical
centers. Every population center has a family medical service. Alongside
official medicine, traditional curing practices based on herbal knowledge
also
survive. There are no shamanistic practices of curing (
curanderismo
) in Andorra.

Secular Celebrations

In addition to the national festival of the Virgin of Meritxell (8
September), each
parroquia
has its own patronal festival. Given the commercial orientation of the
nation (which remains open for business especially when neighboring
nations have holidays), the only formal holidays are Christmas and New
Year's Day.

The Arts and Humanities

Support for the Arts.
Both the state and communal administrations support artistic formation
and creativity. Conservatories of music and art schools are scattered
around the nation.

Literature.
Andorran literary production does not cross the frontiers of the small
country, except in the case of writer A. Morell. There are nonetheless
groups of historians and folklorists interested in recovering oral
traditions and studying and teaching the nation's history.

Performance Arts.
In music, the two great figures of classical music, the Claret brothers,
who play violoncello and violin, have gained great prestige throughout
Europe.

I don't think there could have been records of Andorra any time before BC because it was not officially a country until 850 AD when the Emperor Charlemagne recovers area of present-day Andorra from Moors and is said to grant charter to its residents. After Charlemagne's death Andorra is granted to Spain's Count of Urgel by Charles II, grandson of Charlemagne. So

Bear in mind this is a very old article as the currency is and has been for a very long time the Euro. I am scottish and live in andorra and it is a beautiful and extremely safe country to live in with a strong economy and a very international feel.